Once again, Bills Mafia has created a positive out of a negative.

Over the last few days, the Bills fan community has come together to raise over $60,000 (at the time of writing) for Breakthrough T1D, a non-profit organization devoted to Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy and a charity that Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has supported in the past.

Buffalo eliminated the Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday night, in part thanks to a couple of misplays – including a brutal drop – by Andrews. In the aftermath of the game, Andrews was the victim of online hate and vitriol for what Ravens fans (and bettors) perceived as a game-losing play.

In response, Bills fan Nicholas Howard launched a GoFundMe to raise money for Breakthrough T1D.

‘As many of you know Ravens TE wasn’t able to catch the the game-tying 2-point conversion and upset Ravens fans,’ Howard wrote in the fundraiser description. ‘On top of that the TE has been receiving death threats and nasty comments after his performance last night. We want Bills Mafia to donate to Mark’s charity for [type 1] diabetes. Let’s reach a goal of at least 5k.’

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As of Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe has raised over $63,000.

It received enough attention for the Ravens to respond from their official account on social media site X.

‘Shout out to Bills Mafia for showing support to our guy Mark Andrews and donating to the [Breakthrough T1D]organization,’ they post reads.

Breakthrough T1D also thanked Bills fans in a statement sent to ESPN.

‘Breakthrough T1D greatly appreciates the generosity of the Buffalo Bills community and the many fans who were compelled to donate after Sunday’s game,’ it said. ‘These donations will support research and advocacy on behalf of the 1.6 million Americans who, like Mark Andrews, live with type 1 diabetes.’

According to the Ravens’ website, the decision to make Breakthrough T1D the charity of choice for Bills Mafia’s generosity was a great one.

‘The organization is near and dear to Andrews, who was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes at 9 years old and still deals with it every day,’ wrote Ravens Editorial Director Ryan Mink. ‘He checks his blood-sugar levels between each offensive series.

‘Andrews has been outspoken in his advocacy around the issue and served as a Breakthrough T1D youth ambassador.’

This fundraiser is only the latest example of Bills Mafia’s outpouring of charitable support.

In 2018, Bills fans donated over $100,000 Andy Dalton’s charity, the AJD Foundation, after the quarterback led the Bengals to a Week 17 win (coincidentally, over the Ravens) that helped the Bills clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 1999.

On Tuesday, UConn basketball coach Dan Hurley was scrutinized for berating an official in the Huskies’ 80-78 victory over Butler.

Following what he thought was a missed foul call on a defensive rebound attempt late in the first half, TV cameras caught Hurley telling an official, ‘Don’t turn your back on me; I’m the best coach in the (expletive) sport.’

After the game, Hurley took responsibility for his actions but also commented on the TV cameras following him too much and getting candid responses.

‘I just wish they put the camera on the other coach more,’ Hurley said. ‘… I just wish they would show these other coaches losing their minds at the officials in other Big East games that I’m coaching where … I’m not talking to officials; I see the other coaches as demonstrative as I am.

‘But the camera, obviously … I’ve created this for myself. I’m not the victim.’

Dan Hurley berates ref: ‘I’m the best coach in the (expletive) sport.’

Here’s the video of Hurley’s incident with a referee on Tuesday when UConn beat Butler

Wednesday night’s game between the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans has been postponed due to an ongoing snowstorm in New Orleans, the NBA announced.

The league said the date for the rescheduled game will be announced at a later time.

Milwaukee is scheduled to play at the Miami Heat on Thursday, and the Pelicans have a road date with the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

This is the second game this month to be postponed due to a winter storm. The Jan. 11 game between the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena was postponed because of hazardous icy conditions in the Atlanta area. That game was rescheduled for Jan. 28.

New Orleans is set to host Super Bowl 59 at the Caesars Superdome on Feb. 9, with Mardi Gras festivities scheduled for later in the month.

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Now that the college football season is over, it’s time to the attention to the court and the march toward the madness of the NCAA men’s tournament.

On Monday night, confetti fell from the rafters of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as Ohio State hoisted the College Football Playoff trophy as the champions of the 2024 season.

While the moment was meant to celebrate the Buckeyes, it inadvertently served another purpose. After the longest season in modern college football history, much of the college sports world will now shift its attention to college basketball.

There’s been plenty of storylines in the first half with expanded conferences, domination by the southeast and freshman sensations. If you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been going on in men’s college basketball, here are some of the key points this season with Selection Sunday only eight weeks away,

Who is the college basketball best team so far?

Auburn has separated itself as the top team in the country − the No. 1 team in the country has the best record in Division I at 17-1.

While the record is fantastic, it doesn’t tell the full story of how good the Tigers are. They emerged from the crowded Maui Invitational as champions and have played their best against quality opponents. Auburn has a 10-1 record against Quad 1 opponents while no other team has more than seven victories in the category. The only defeat Auburn suffered was a tough road contest at Duke (more on the Blue Devils later).

The Tigers were led by center Johni Broome, and even though he suffered an injury that has sidelined him for a few weeks, Auburn hasn’t skipped a beat during its 10-game winning streak. It certainly looks like a team headed toward being the top overall seed in the tournament.

SEC dominance

Auburn leads a pack of a conference that has dominated the first few months of the sport, proving that it does just mean more in hoops.

Before conference play began, SEC teams were a combined 185-23, with no team having more than three losses. It was an astounding start to the season that has led many to believe could send a record amount of teams to the tournament (the current best is 11 bids by the Big East in 2011).

Since conference play started, the SEC has started to cannibalize itself with some of those teams already struggling as a result of the difficulty. But it won’t be that harmful considering teams with losing SEC record will make the tournament. At the moment, 13 SEC teams are in the top 50 of the NET rankings, nine are in the Top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll with five in the top 10.

The Cooper Flagg show rolls on

The 6-foot-9 Maine native is perhaps the most ballyhooed freshman since Zion Williamson was also turning heads for Duke six years ago. Already the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class, Flagg boosted his profile the summer, when he competed on the United States select team and held his own in a scrimmage against the NBA’s best players on the men’s national team preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At Duke, he has largely lived up to his lofty billing and shown major improvement. He is averaging 23.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists in his team’s past eight games, a run highlighted by an ACC-freshman-record 42 points in a win over Notre Dame. He even got a viral moment, too, when he threw down a transition dunk over Pitt seven-footer Guillermo Diaz Graham on Jan. 7.

If that progress continues, it’s possible that when he leaves Durham for the NBA after this season, he’ll do so after a run to the national title.

Connecticut looks vulnerable in quest for three-peat

Dan Hurley’s Huskies faced little resistance on their way to back-to-back national titles, winning each of its 12 tournament games by at least 13 points.

Nearly 20 games into this season, they haven’t looked nearly as invincible, with a 13-5 record that includes losses in two of their past three outings. UConn lost four of its top five scorers from last season’s championship team, including a pair of top-10 NBA draft picks – Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan.

Still, there’s plenty of talent in Storrs, with Alex Karaban and five-star freshman Liam McNeeley, and it’s worth remembering that Hurley’s first title team, dominant as it was by the end of the season, was 15-5 this time two years ago.

The Big 12 is reliably entertaining

After it helped cannibalize the Pac-12, the Big 12 helped fill the void as the go-to league for chaotic late-night football. There hasn’t been a lack of drama in basketball, either.

In nine of the past 11 seasons, the Big 12 was rated by KenPom as the best conference in the sport and while it’s not quite to the level of the SEC so far this season, it remains the home to some of the best programs in the sport. Iowa State looks like the class of the conference so far, especially after a 17-point thumping of Kansas last Wednesday. The Jayhawks aren’t too bad themselves, lurking just outside of the top 10 of the coaches poll. Houston is yet again one of the country’s toughest teams. West Virginia has emerged from Bob Huggins’ messy exit with a superb first season under coach Darian DeVries. And after a rough start, newcomer Arizona has been one of the top teams in the nation over the past month.

How are new teams doing in new conferences?

For the most part, it’s been a tough start for the Power Four teams in new homes. Of the new additions, only four − Oregon, Arizona, SMU and Stanford − have winning records in conference play, with the Ducks the only team ranked in the coaches poll.

As for the others, UCLA cooled off from a solid start with four-game losing skid as nearby Southern California has also struggled in the Big Ten. Utah is middling, and California, Washington, Arizona State, and Colorado are at the bottom of their new leagues. Meanwhile, Oklahoma and Texas are learning just how tough the SEC is with each at 1-4 in league play. If you want to see just how tough it’s been for these teams, just look at any postgame press conference from UCLA head coach Mick Cronin.

Oregon and Arizona are the best chances for the respective Big Ten and Big 12 newcomers to win their conference, but it’s been a rocky start in some new places for the majority of newcomers.

Veteran coaches off to fast starts

What’s old is new again with veteran coaches − Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino and Dana Altman − having successful seasons well into their careers.

After years mixed tournament results, Izzo has Michigan State relevant again with a 16-2 start that has the Spartans at the top of the Big Ten and ranked No. 8, its highest ranking this late in the season since 2020. Pitino has St. John’s at 16-3, and the Red Storm have an early lead in the Big East with a 7-1 mark, the best conference start since 1998-99. Then there’s also Altman and Oregon, which went perfect in non-conference play and its seven Quad 1 wins is second-most in the country.

All of the aforementioned coach’s have their teams on the way to the tournament, and experience is one of the greatest qualities a coach could have in March.

Who has disappointed?

While there’s been some impressive play, some squads aren’t living up to expectations are face the danger of not seeing their names in the bracket unveiling.

The biggest disappointment has been the arrival of John Calipari at Arkansas. The Razorbacks have been beaten up badly since conference play began and are off to an 0-5 start in the SEC that has them trending toward being one of the few in the league to miss the tournament. North Carolina is another squad that can’t capitalize against quality opponents. The Tar Heels, a preseason top 10 team, struggle to put together complete games are just 1-6 in Quad 1 contests, and coming off a bad loss to Stanford at home.

Other teams that started with high hopes and haven’t lived up to them include Gonzaga and Baylor − both teams that had losing weeks − and Indiana with a fanbase that is ready to fire Mike Woodson since the highly touted transfer haul hasn’t impressed.

The trend of hiring former NFL players as college coaches continued as Terrell Buckley was named the head coach at Mississippi Valley State University.

The 53-year-old Buckley was a decorated cornerback during his days at Florida State, winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back. He was drafted in the first round of the 1992 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers and played for the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and New York Giants, and won a Super Bowl title with the New England Patriots in 2001.

He spent 14 seasons in the NFL and finished with 50 interceptions.

‘We’re going to build a culture of accountability, hard work, and belief – because winning starts with the standards we set and the mindset we bring every single day,’ Buckley said in a statement.

Buckley replaces Kendrick Wade, who was fired after two seasons and a dismal 2-21 record. His only head coaching experience was one season with the Orlando Guardians of the XFL in 2023. The Guardians had a 1-9 record that season and folded after they were not part of the new UFL merger.

Buckley follows several high-profile former NFL players who have been hired at HBCUs, including Deion Sanders at Jackson State, who then moved on to Colorado; Eddie George, who is at Tennessee State; Michael Vick, who took the reins at Norfolk State and DeSean Jackson who was hired at Delaware State.

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Kenny Lofton, who has watched plenty of his peers get inducted into the Hall of Fame since his 2007 retirement, believes he simply came along at the wrong time or he’d be appreciated, sitting right alongside them in Cooperstown.

Lofton, a six-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove center fielder who hit .299 with 2,428 hits and 622 stolen bases in his 18-year career, had just one flaw in his game.

He didn’t hit home runs, producing just 130 homers while playing all but four years of his career during the steroid era.

“I was one of those guys that got overlooked because I played in the era of home runs and steroid guys,’’ Lofton told USA TODAY Sports. “That was a big part of the game, but it was like my part of the game meant nothing. I did my job hitting atop of the order. I was getting on base, just trying to help my team.

“Now, everything is about launch and home runs. Now, its about launch angles and home runs. In my era, I was doing my job.

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“It’s sad to see how the game has turned out.’’

This is one of the reasons why Lofton joined forces with former Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro and his brother, David Amaro, who co-founded Sluggball. It’s a baseball version of Topgolf, utilizing a four-by-four situational hitting format that will be officially launched May 10 in Trenton, New Jersey, at the Trenton Thunder Ballpark in the first of at least six events.

The concept will be for teams of six players to join tournaments to determine the best situational hitters, having players utilize their skills from pulling the ball to hitting to the opposite field to spraying the ball around the infield.

Sluggball is hoping to attract former players, particularly from high school and college, who want to keep playing baseball in a competitive style, but only by swinging the bat, just like popular Topgolf on the driving range.

“In this day and age,’’ Amaro said, “there are so many alternative sports like pickleball, 3-on-3 basketball, Topgolf and things like that. There’s no such thing in baseball. There’s really no other thing for former high school players and college players who truly love the most fun thing in baseball, and that’s hitting. We just felt like there was a demographic that was being ignored. We think there’s three-million plus people in this sort of 24-to-35-year age demographic who played high school baseball.

“So many people don’t have anything else to do, so they’re going to play softball, which is not the same thing.’’

Who knows, perhaps the advent of Sluggball will bring popularity back to small-ball, with Ichiro Suzuki representing the value of being able to control his bat with his Hall of Fame election on Tuesday.

Lofton, 57, can only hope.

“Can you imagine if Dave Kingman were playing now, he’d be all-world,’’ Lofton said. “Adam Dunn would have been a $50 million a year player. It’s just such a different game now. Situational hitting in the game is terrible. People get excited more about home runs and strikeouts.

“So once this was introduced to me, and the concept of it all, it interested me. I’m hoping this will get people excited about situational hitting and talked about more in today’s game. It’s not all about home runs. It’s about knowing how to hit.

“Hopefully, this Sluggball gets into people’s heads and let them know what’s important. It’s part of the game that’s exciting, but has gone away. Now, just like with Ichiro, hopefully this can wake people up.’’

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Young readers are getting an assist from Caitlin Clark.

Scholastic is donating 22,000 new books to the Caitlin Clark Foundation, which will then get them in the hands of kids who don’t have easy access to books — especially new and popular books that would be more likely to entice kids to read.

The books are for kids in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Clark’s foundation expects to distribute them to elementary schools, middle schools, children’s hospitals and other non-profit organizations, with an emphasis on Iowa, where Clark was born and raised, and Indiana, where she plays professionally in the WNBA.

‘Reading and education have always been hugely important in my life,’ Clark said in the release announcing the donation, which reflects both her birthday, which is Wednesday, and the Indiana Fever star’s No. 22 jersey.

‘I remember picking out the books from the Scholastic flyer and how empowering that was for me as a child, and how motivated I was to read,’ Clark said. ‘I want to help kids have the same experience, to develop their reading skills and open their imaginations to dream big.’

Reading was already in decline because of the increasing amount of time spent on screens — computers, cell phones and tablets — and it worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when school, work and free time were all taking place on line. In Scholastic’s most recent Kids & Family Reading Report, the number of kids aged 6 to 17 who said they read five to seven days a week dropped from 37% in 2010 to 28% in 2022. About 40% of U.S. students cannot read at a basic level, according to the National Literacy Institute’s 2022-23 statistics.

Studies have shown that kids who are frequent readers often have role models who read. While that typically means parents, it can be their sports idols, too.

Scholastic often partners with NFL players to encourage reading, but Clark’s foundation is the first for an WNBA player. It’s a natural fit. Education is one of the three pillars of Clark’s foundation, with an emphasis on ‘strong reading skills.’

She’s also wildly popular with young girls and young boys, and her encouragement could help keep kids reading at an age when they start spending more time on screens and extracurricular activities.

‘We need to make radical moves and inspire meaningful improvement to change the trajectory of child literacy rates in America. To do this, we need champion-level advocacy and support, which is what makes collaborating with Caitlin so exciting,’ Judy Newman, the chief impact officer at Scholastic, said in the release.

‘As we’ve seen from the 65,000 students nationwide who participate in the United States of Readers program, access to quality books and positive reading role models are key to developing motivation and self-confidence and increasing literacy,’ Newman said. ‘Caitlin is a proven role model, and we are thrilled to work together with the Caitlin Clark Foundation to make reading more accessible to kids everywhere.”

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